Quotes from Idries Shah

Sufism is experiential. Capacities, even those for learning beyond a certain point, are provoked by Sufis, by one's own efforts and what results from them, and by an element of what is referred to by Sufis as the Divine.

They asked Abboud of Omdurman: 'Which is better, to be young or to be old?' He said: 'To be old is to have less time before you and more mistakes behind. I leave you to decide whether this is better than the reverse.

The king said, 'What wisdom have you gained from this event?' The scholar replied: 'I now understand that if anyone were to remain perceptive to the real condition of men all the time, he would go mad.' The dervish told him: 'Now you know that the dervish lore includes the knowledge of when to be awake and when to remain asleep.

P: ¿Cuál es el error fundamental del hombre? R: Pensar que está vivo, cuando simplemente se ha dormido en la antesala de la vida.

The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk. As Prince Dara Shikoh says, in a Persian poem: Do you wish to be included with the Lords of Sight? From speech (then) pass on to experience. By saying 'Unity', you do not become a monotheist; The mouth does not become sweet from the word 'Sugar

As the Eastern saying, by the sage Hilali, has it, 'one person who understands is worth a hundred who merely obey a custom.

The Sufis regard systems which treat everyone alike as mechanical and degenerate.

You may not appreciate Sufism at first, but once you do you will appreciate it until the end of your days.

El camino Sufi es a través del conocimiento y la práctica, no a través del intelecto y el habla. Como dice el príncipe Dara Shikoh en el poema persa: ¿Deseas ser incluido con los Señores de la Visión? Pasa (entonces) del discurso a la experiencia. Al decir "Unidad", no te transformas en un monoteísta; La boca no se vuelve dulce por la palabra "Azúcar".

You can keep going on much less attention than you crave.

The question of divine knowledge is so deep that it is really known only to those who have it.

Careful preparation is necessary before people can perceive something which is there all the time.

Eat what you desire, but dress like other people.

The best player of a game is the watcher — ask him.

Now that I have found thee, I know that in the first step I took, I moved away from thee.

The teacher is one who abandons ceremonial and religious display and social appearances, and concentrates on real development.

it was being written in the East that 'Sufism was formerly a reality without a name: now it is a name without a reality'.

Sufism, in one definition, "is" human life.

The teaching must, of course, work with the best part of the individual, must be directed to his or her real capacity.

Be a tiger — if you are ready for a tiger's problems.

The thief who has not been caught is a king.

El progreso llega a través de la capacidad de aprender, y es irresistible.

These lecture provide material for the consideration of common factors, in theory and in development, from the viewpoint of the idea of surrender to the Divine Will, reviewing some aspects of the interplay between Christians and Moslems, and introducing material from and about Sufis.

when we are talking about 'Christians' and 'Moslems' we must first make sure that we are talking about people who have an idea, which should be more or less correct, as to what the other is supposed to believe and what he is expected to do as a consequence of that belief.